Mako's Lost Days
by seta.masters
Summary: After Korra and Asami return from the spirit world, Mako feels out of place and confused so thanks to Lin he's on his way to the Fire Nation on an Officer Exchange Program where Mako might be able to find himself, but focusing on himself might be problematic when he gets handed the hardest case of his career with the Red Lotus hiding in the shadows. First Fic, M for stuff later on
1. Prologue: Exchange

Prologue: Exchange

_Journal Entry; Day 1_

_10:30 in the morning, Brightly Sunny, not a Cloud in sight._

_It's been a couple of weeks since I left Republic City, I've been slowly making my way across the Earth Kingdom and now on the final ferry arriving in the capital city of the Fire Nation. It's been a couple of revealing weeks since I returned from Ba Sing Se, after protecting Wu as he set up the E.U.S (Earthern United States) there became a point at which I became superfluous and even though Wu was quite persistent for me to stay, I wanted to return to my career as Detective. Wu will do well now, he's gotten better since those first days of guarding him._

_And so I returned to Republic City, the Chief gave me my old job back without a problem and Bolin had settled into multiple jobs with Varrick and he was beaming all the time now Opal had requested a station in Republic City from Jinora. Most times it was just me and my brother again, it was good, just like the old days without the fighting for our lives part. _

_The troubles started when Korra and Asami returned from the Spirit world. Together. They had left so fast after Varricks wedding, everyone barely knew what was going on and if I was honest I had suspected something once Korra returned from her recovery (Come on guys, I'm a cop, they could of hid it better). They were together and I felt conflicted. I was happy for them, for sure, I mean the way they came back in each other's arms and the subtle gestures they thought I didn't notice, they both were happy and I was happy for them. _

_The problem was, I wasn't happy with myself. I enjoyed being back on the beat but I started to feel like I was limiting my life. I admit, I was taking some personal space since I broke up with Korra and Asami, that was a mess and I even hoped that someday I might of…gotten back with Korra…I don't know, was I such a bad boyfriend to force them both away…to each other?! And seeing everyone else so happy with people, Bolin and Opal, Kai and Jinora, Zhu Li and Varrick, even Chief had been rumoured to be meeting someone in her off hours since the wedding._

_Anyway being stuck around them both started to make things awkward, it brought all these feelings to a head, but luckily at the time, the Chief was coordinating an Officer Exchange Program with the Fire Nation, part of this semi-occasional international good-will thing that involved working for the Fire Guard and with my experience with Wu, I was speedily qualified. The team wasn't happy especially Bolin, seeming as how again we had to break up Team Avatar again but they finally let me go,_

"10 minutes till docking!" Yelled a salty sailor

_I will be arriving soon and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Fire Nation operates, apparently the Fire Captain Lee and even Lord Zuko was going to meet me at the guard station once I arrive, I'm sure Bolin will be envious. Entry End._

Mako packed away his journal into his shoulder bag, stood up from the crates and took a big long stretch as he glanced around the cargo bay. The boat slowly pulled into the dock with a clunk, shuddering slowly that unbalanced Mako briefly.

Mako took his first brief look out into the blind sun shining in his face as he adjusted to his eyes and see the flurry of people running around the docks, people running, forklifts whirring and people behind him had begun unpacking the cargo so Mako thought it'd be time to move swiftly on. The Dock was grey and stoney, obviously not the usual unloading place for passenger ships.

"Seems 'All expenses paid trip' was a thinly veiled cover up from the chief it seems" Mako chuckled in hindsight as he hurriedly paced through the grey dock and through the tiny parting in the buildings for pedestrians.

Walking through that tiny path was like a gateway into another world, it reveal the gorgeously decorated street and old architecture of the Fire Nation.

"Wow…It seems quite different to Republic Citeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh!" Mako screamed as a motorised scooter crashed into him.


	2. Chapter 1: The Job

Chapter 1: The Job

"Argh, watch where you're going you prick!" Said an angry girls voice "Fucking Tourists"

"Hey I knew where I was going!" Mako got up and yelled

"Oh yeah!" the girl got up and stared him in the eye with her fierce yellow ones, "I'm not the one walking out into Fucking Traffic!"

"Hey! I was on the Sidewalk lady, you're the one driving in the wrong place!" Mako retorted

The woman looked smug as she crossed her arms and gloatingly pointed to Mako's side, showing him that he in his stupor had ignored the small sidewalk and walked right into the middle of the small road.

"Oh…" Mako started to flush red, and turned to her "Oh look, I'm sorry…can I…?"

"Oh shit, shit, shit, shit…I'm late" She cursed as she whizzed around looking for her helmet

Mako got a brief look at her, there was a whirlwind of black pigtails and she was wearing a very loose combination of red clothing, but before he could see her face again she had squashed her head into her helmet and fired up her scooter.

"Watch where you're going next time…" She zoomed past him, almost running his foot over so he jumped back "Fucking Tourist"

Mako growled as he bent down to pick up his side bag, and with throwing it over his shoulder his confusion dissolved, and an odd memory came to Mako.

_Remember the last time that happen *chuckle*, at the time I thought I hit the Jackpot. Asami was so beautiful, and the windfall helped so much with the team at least until Amon ruined it._

Mako took off slowly down the street, still curiously in deep thought.

_*sigh* I did take Asami for granted, she liked me and I owed her so much but when it came down to it I left her in her most awful situation, it was selfish. I played it loose and fast with her feelings, I should have taken it slow, figured out my feelings before we started, I shouldn't have rushed into it._

Mako came to his senses, he start to look round and see the renowned Fire Nation architecture, it apparently hadn't change in 150 years or so, but I expect all the power lines, satomobiles, radios and such weren't around back then.

As a guy Mako wouldn't ask for directions, so he spent a good hour or two walking around the central city, it was rather extravagant. Not as extravagant admittedly as the Upper ring of the Ba Sing Se, but more extravagant than the Lower ring and even the Middle ring, they loved their red decorations with lovely ornamental hanging between the buildings giving the impression there was a constant festival going on. Mako could also her a constant bustle of humans and cars, it was clear that outside the central city it was a lot more packed and vibrant in the main streets.

After finally relinquishing to ask for directions against all of Mako's manly pride, he was told to follow the signs on street corners finally coming to a building that looked remarkably like the station back home, of course with a different symbol out front and all the red detailing.

Mako quickly entered, pushing the door open and without warning another man came running past and Mako quickly dodged to the side and kept the door open. Shrugging off the experience, Mako saw the door with the stained glass saying 'Captain' and gave it a swift tap tap tap.

"Come in" said a deep commanding but friendly voice

"Ahh Hello Mako, It's good to see you again" said the strained older voice of Lord Zuko

Mako bowed with his fist in his palm as he walked up to the desk "Good to see you too Lord Zuko…and Chief…uuuuh, I mean Captain. Detective Mako reporting from Chief Beifong for the Officer Exchange Program"

"Mako! Mako Mako, don't be so formal" The Captain cheered from the desk as he got up to shake the boys hand vigorously "I've heard great things about you boy, even teaming up with the Avatar to save Republic City…tell me do you still have the scar from when you destroyed that awful Colossus"

Mako took off a long gloved that had been covering that exact scar under his jacket, revealing the still burnt red skin up to his elbow where the lightning had fried it, showing it off it full detail as the Captain looked on intrigued until he stopped and Mako slowly slid on his long glove again.

"Wow, It seems you and that boy are two of a kind Lord Zuko" Lee cheerfully grinned

"I know a thing or two about scars" Zuko chuckled softly

"So Sirs, I'm here, I'm willing just give me my first assignment" Mako stood up straight like an attentive soldier

"Now hold on my boy, you're a day early you know that" Lee told him "Why don't you take some time off, see the city, have you even found a place to stay yet boy?"

"No sir, but I can sleep under my desk until I find a place, I would just really like to be working again" Mako continued like a soldier waiting for orders

"My my my, he really is dedicated" Lee chuckled impressed "but no, we've got nothing lined up yet for you to start…"

"Wait wait wait, Captain Lee" Zuko interrupted "Remember that thing we talked about earlier, we were going to assign this young man to that like planned"

"Still we haven't had time to prepare" Lee awkwardly and indiscreetly turned into a whisper "She's not going to be very pleased if we spring this on her unexpectedly"

"But it's best he starts as soon as possible" Zuko smiled and spoke normally "and that's why my grandson has her right now in the interrogation room"

"Okay…if you say so sir, Last time we gave her this unexpected of a surprise we had to rebuild this station after it burnt down" Lee looked slightly worried for the first time Mako had seen for the jolly man

"I will go fetch them both right now" Zuko still smiled and promptly walked out down the corridor

A quiet silence briefly passed as Mako turned to the Captain.

"So Sir, can you answer me something?" Mako cautiously asked still not breaking stance

"As best as my ability will allow boy" Lee smiled as he relaxed back in his chair

"Why doesn't this Fire Guard Station look like what I've heard, I mean the Fire Army had apparently massive red armour on with white metal masks that looked like skulls" Mako curiously thought-out

"Well, that some of that stuff is still basically used but it is mainly given to the United Forces and Fire Nation Army" Lee described "but since the hundred year ended most of the local army stations have been transformed into basically police stations like you know, you see we're technically the F.N.P.D (Fire Nation Police Department) but old habits die hard and people still call us the Fire Guard, so we kept it and most of the ranks associated with the army"

"Well thank you sir, and might I say I'm be happy to work…." Mako started

"NOOOO!" came a powerful scream as a breath of fire came barrelling out of the interrogation room, the officers in the station swiftly avoided it like it was another day in the office

"Hold that thought boy…" said Lee as he look worried at Mako "until you see your assignment"


	3. Chapter 2: Wanted and Unwanted

Chapter 2: Wanted and Unwanted

For a while Mako just stood there patient in his stance in the Captains office, the Captain had decided to just get on with some paper work casually but everyone could hear the yelling down the hall in small bites.

"No…that Fucking piece of Shit can go…" The girls voiced screamed

"Honey please, language…" said Iroh's panicky voice

"But I'm strong, I'm the best Fucking Firebender this side of the Great Fucking Divide!" She continued

"I KNOW! I know Honey, but you can't..." Iroh was trying to take control of the situation

"I don't need a Fucking piss ass Baby sitter, Fuck! Especially some Fucking Police officer with a stick up his whizz-wang!"

"Dear…" Zuko heard started and everything went quiet for a while

"…Okay Pop-pops, I'll do it for you." came the girl soon after, getting calmer

"Okay…Okay" You could hear Iroh relaxing "Now just get dressed properly and come into the office when you're done, okay?"

Two pairs of footsteps were heard coming down the hall,

"AND SOMEONE FIX THOSE DAMN DOORS!" Iroh bellowed sounding actually scary.

The office door swung open and Iroh sighed in relief, Zuko didn't look like he'd ever changed his smile while Mako...Mako had gone pale, somehow locked in his stance he resisted the wobbly leg feeling he got and found it difficult to swallow.

Iroh turned to a smile and approach Mako with an arm on the shoulder and a man hug, as Mako seemingly broke out of his panic briefly to return in kind.

"How have you been Mako?" Iroh cheerily asked

"I've been good, back on the beat after helping out Wu, the reconstructions going well in Republic City, thought you'd want to know"

"Good, good…how are the others? Hows Korra doing now?" Iroh asked concerned

"She's doing good, very good, she came back from her Spirit World vacation just a few weeks ago and she's now happy…" Mako then trailed off "…now that's she's going out with Asami"

"Sorry, did you just say going out with Asami?" Iroh said in disbelief "but isn't Asami a girl? Isn't Asami your ex aswell?"

"Yes…and Yes..." Mako reluctantly answered

Iroh and Zuko gave some disbelief looks between each other, even the Captain tried to hide the mildly astonished look from his paperwork, Iroh put his hand on Makos shoulder;

"That's rough buddy" Iroh and Zuko said in unison

"Thanks…Thanks that means a lot" Mako looked at them both with an awkward grin

In the silence soon after, a slow pair of footsteps could be heard wandering down the hallway, and with a clap…clap…clap the girled pushed through the door holding herself like a dainty porcelain doll,

_Was this the girl Mako heard earlier that nearly cursed the entire building down_? She was short dainty thing barely up to Mako's shoulders, she wore makeup like it was natural to her face with a very light shade of red lipstick that stuck out between her elegantly braided black hair that looked like silk, adorned in the gold crown that held it up. Her modest breast was held under her elegantly detailed red dress that flowed over her legs and looked like it was made of fire itself as she moved, Mako felt his face begin to blush again.

"Gah, I hate this dress, it really rides up my asshole" She roughly said, as she tugged on it

_And he lost it, yeah…this was the girl he heard earlier_

Iroh forcefully coughed as he directed the girl by the shoulder "Hhmm, Honey this is Mako, he's the one who we talked about earlier. Mako this is my daughter, Fire Princess Enya"

The girl looked at him directly, uninterested before gasping suddenly and pointing directly at him,

"Tourist guy!" She gasped

"Sorry what…?" Mako reacted confused before staring into her eyes, to see the same determined shade of yellow he saw earlier "AAAh! You!"

"I'm sorry…you two have met?" Iroh looked confused

"Yeah…briefly" Mako looked ashamed

"At 20mph, the corner of stupid and fucking tourist" Enya chuckled

"Enya, language!" Iroh snapped

"Sorry Daddy" She said innocently as she clumsily put her shoulder on Mako "But are you sure you want someone protecting wittle old mwee if he walks out into traffic in broad daylight?"

"Hey I can take care of myself" Mako scornfully walked away slowly

"Mako…" Zuko quietly started "You're job for the duration you are here is to guard Princess Enya, I'm afraid the Royal guard is short staffed lately and we need someone with experience to guard Enya until we can secure a more permanent arrangement"

Enya scoffed "Pah, I don't need a babysitter…I'm the best Fu…Firebending in the nation"

Mako look scared and grabbed the Captains desk "But…but…but sir, I'm a beat cop, I want to be a beat cop, I wanna walk the streets, get to know your process, not babysit some vulgar rich princess"

"EXCUSE ME" Enya came right up to Mako, poking him in the chest "Vulgar?! I have my own fan club boy, and those guys and girls find me pretty hot"

The Captain coughed loudly and put his arm around Mako,

"Listen Mako, we aren't pressed around here and Lord Zuko, General Iroh and even Firelord Izumi will be very appreciative if you could do this for them" Lee pulled Mako to the side and whispered "Plus after how we hear you improved the attitude of the former Earth Prince, this seems right up your alley, plus it's an order so you can either quit or live with it"

Mako raised his hand like he wanted to say something, but after looking to the Captain, then the Princess, then to Iroh, then to Zuko. Mako relented, drop his head down and sighed;

"Okay…I'll do it"

"Fu..." Enya started, before getting a death glare from her father

"That's brilliant Mako" Zuko said walking up to him "That means you can live at the palace for now, I'm sure we have a spare room just down from Enya's"

"WHAT?! That's too far Pop-pops…I can't sleep in my room while this weirdo POSSIBLY PERV, is right down the corridor from me" she yelled

"It's settled now Enya" Zuko said softly "I'm sure Mako is a respectable man, at least I hope he is after how he left his girlfriends"

"Oooooh what's this then?" Enya jumped on the point "bit o' trouble with the ladies ey?"

Mako rolled his eyes "Yeah, like I'm gonna tell you"

It was a few minutes later, Mako, Zuko and Enya had all gotten into a fairly extravagant and large satomobile adorned with fire emblem gold and red decorations, it was basically a sato-limousine. Iroh had left in the opposite direction, having to return to the local navy base for a few meetings.

Mako and Enya had sat directly away from each other trying to avoid eye contact, both looked very sour and displeased to be anywhere near each other, Zuko sat in the middle of them both looking blissfully cheery and unaware of the tension that seemed to envelope the car for the entire journey.

As they stopped, Enya finally addressed Mako from out the corner of her eye

"So are you gonna be a gentleman and open the door for a beautiful lady?" She mocked

Mako scoffed as he got out of the car quickly. Enya was about to unhook her belt and get out herself but Mako actually came round and with a clunk of the lock and opened the door for her like a waiting guard.

"Wow, you actually did it" She laughed as she got out of the car and gave him some taps on the cheek "You're way to chivalrous for your own good boy, don't think I'm not slightly offended by this"

Mako growled. _Wu always appreciated when I opened the door for him, even if it took obsessive moaning before I would do it, I just wanted to bury the hatchet, get on with my job like a professional but she just wants to be difficult._

Enya went slowly off down the drive way carrying herself in her delicate porcelain stature, with a slow clack as her heels tapped slowly across the ground and she walked away. Lord Zuko came out of the car at the same door, and turned to Mako as he shut the door with a slam.

"I'm sorry for my great-granddaughter boy…she's probably the most fiery princess I've seen since my sister, luckily missing the evil…at least I think so" Zuko chuckled

"It's no worries sir, I've dealt with fiery girls before" Zuko smiled

"Yes, I'm sure the Avatar can be a handful" Zuko pondered "That actually brings me to my next point boy, come walk with me for a second"

Mako followed Zuko to a presumably empty balcony that overlooked a small part of the fire nation.

"Listen Mako, what I'm going to tell you doesn't leave between us, you don't tell Enya, or Iroh, Izumi, or even Captain Lee, you aren't even allowed to write home and tell your friends"

"…Sure sir" Mako slowly realised the seriousness of the conversation

"You know of the Red Lotus, of Zaheer and his followers" Zuko looked off into the cityscape "Well after Zaheer fell, and Kuvira stomped through the Earth Kingdom they went into hiding…but recently they seemed to have resurfaced, I have read reports of no less than 15 attempted attacks on Eska and Desna in the past month and worst, I have stopped at least 5 of them myself attempting to get close to my Izumi and Enya"

"So that's why you wanted me to protect Enya sir" Mako realised

"Yes, but it's far worse than that Mako" Zuko turned somber, "As you know, the Red Lotus are cunning, I have reliable information that several members have infiltrated our staff, the town and even the guard…that's where you come in. As an ally of the Avatar I know you are trustworthy, and as a brand new arrival I trust you are not part of those that have infiltrated our ranks"

"Yes sir, of course sir…I even took down two of the members with my brother" Zuko proudly told him

"Yes, that is good" Zuko turned to him "Mako, I'm trusting you with one of the things in this world that is most precious to me, you protect her. Tell me you will protect her with your life, on your honour"

"On my honour sir, I will not allow anything to Fire Princess Enya" Mako confidently told him

"That is good, you're a good man Mako" Zuko smiled as he started to walk away"…and give her chocolate, she'll start to warm up to you after that"

"Thanks…sir" Mako stared somberly out to the cityscape for a while by himself. _Not this again._

"MAKOOOOOOO!" yelled the shrill girl suddenly and Mako nearly fell off the balcony, gripping with his life to get back on.


	4. Chapter 3: The Escape

Chapter 3: The Escape

"What?! What's wrong?!" Mako ran into her room panicking

"There's a spider over there" Enya said disinterested picking her nose behind a book "Kill it body-guard, Aah"

"Grr, to think I was actually concerned!" Mako grunted as he let out a hiss of fire and started to walk out

"Aww come on, Mr. Tourist-Bodyguard-Failed Girlfriends guy" She sat up at him and had a big smile "Don't be such a stiff"

"Don't be such a stiff?!" Mako turned back to her a yelled "Since I've been here I've seen you be nothing but a huge royal pain to everyone who cares about you, even me who actually just wants to protect your sorry behind until he can go back on the beat, so excuse me if I'm a little stiff"

Mako walked promptly out, Enya looked a tad sombre but clearly not saddened or miserable by Mako having a rant at her, and so in silence Mako went to stand outside her front door in his attentive stance and took a deep breath after unloading a little bit of stress, then instantly regretted that having realised he had unloaded that tension on an actual princess. _Maybe I should go apologise? I don't think that was entirely about her, I mean I've only known her a day…yeah I should go…._

"Excuse me, sir" Said an indistinguishable fire nation maid,

Mako was pulled out of his stupor "Uh…Yes, sorry what?"

"The Princess's dinner is here" she said with a dulcet tone

"Oh very good….just take it…into her, I'm sure she'll enjoy it?" Mako awkwardly smile after struggling with the answer

"Very good sir" as the maid signalled back to the people following her

For the first five or six servants Mako didn't mind, _maybe it's just an extravagant feast, it is a palace after all_. But then the servants just kept going back and forth for a few minutes, more and more serving plates kept coming in, all on fine gold and red settings, just coming and coming, Mako was quite disturbed.

"Thanks everybody" Enya cheerily thanked them as the last servant came out.

Mako looked round the corner to see at least several serving plates stacked around the room, some on the bed and some on the floor but there was definitely way too many for a normal girl of Enya's size to handle, there must have been at least thirty.

"HEY" Enya yelled at him "Avert your eyes Bodyguard, I like to be alone to eat!"

Mako snapped back around the corner looking thoroughly unamused. Time past, Mako even became slightly sleepy as he stood there doing absolutely nothing for a while just casually trying to amuse himself in another boring guard job, unbeknownst to the stalwart bodyguard however the vulgar princess round the corner wasn't do anything remotely to do with eating.

In a completely effective silence Enya reached under her bed and pulled out a few things, some kind of red leather clothing, a very plain looking recurve archery bow with red quiver and two very large white sacks. The sacks were very large and even elastic as Enya carefully, quietly and speedily took each plate of her meals, tossed the food from each serving plate into one bag while carefully throwing the finery into the other making sure it didn't crash together to alert the stupid guard out front. Enya chuckled as she quickly disrobed, like throwing off a towel she unbuttoned her dress and let it fall, quickly grabbing the red leather clothing she also slipped that on as if it was as effortless as breathing, revealing it was some rogue-like light armour she clasped around herself, as she also tied the quiver to her belt and picked up the bow. Now grabbing a large wrapping of rope from underneath her bed again, Enya shot a rope arrow out her window attaching themselves to the guard tower opposite and returning the bow to her side, one by one she tied each bag to her back using some extra rope

It was by this time Mako's thoughts returned to him. _Hmmm, maybe she's finished now, might be a good time for that apology, I don't want the future Queen of a nation pissed at me cause I can't hold my…temper…_Mako turned around the corner completely stunned by the unexpected sight of seeing Enya halfway out of the window, gripping her two bags and the rope.

"Oh fuck" She jumped looking over her shoulder "Well you can't catch me now, See ya now…Fucking Tourist"

Enya quickly dove out the window swinging on her rope with ease and the bags swinging underneath her, Mako stood in disbelief for a second before running to the window in sheer panic if the Princess would fall to her death and what he saw blew his mind. Soaring through the air unafraid, Enya was heading straight for a crash into the adjacent tower, in one confident motion she flipped herself in mid travel, using her feet to firebend fire jets from her feet and coming to a stop, suspended on the tower. In another swift motion she dove from the tower and using the same fire jets landed swiftly on the battlements and ran quickly out of sight.

Again Mako was stunned, fraught with panic but still somehow amazed as he followed the girls daring display through the air but finally again regaining his sanity scrambled for the exit trying to pursue the daring princess.

In the distance, a women in a long red dress and elegant black hair was sipping tea from her balcony;

"Well, does seem my granddaughter is being quite rambunctious again today isn't she" Izumi sat smiling

"Firelord Izumi, I must speak to you urgently" A royal bodyguard quickly entered as he kneeled before her

Izumi turned got up and turned round promptly "Speak Soldier"

"We have just arrested a man in the kitchen, we believe he was attempting to poison our food supply, what would you have us do with him?"

"Send him to the Fire Guard, he will stand trial for his deceiving and murderous ways" Izumi commanded as another pair of soldiers exited the room "can you determine what the man poisoned"

"I'm afraid it's not good my lady" The guard began to sweat "…I'm afraid the poison might be in something we gave the princess for her recent dinner"

Izumi's face went white and stricken with Anger, if the man was in her presence right now the guards knew this would probably be the time the man was set on fire for his crimes.

"Quickly, message the fire guard, all soldiers in the castle must be sent out into the city" Izumi commander with vigour "My granddaughter has already left the palace, we must find her".

By the time Firelord Izumi had made her decree, Mako had already scrambled out the door after Enya and had already reached a busy area in the middle of fire nation city before coming to a slow trudge realising he had lost Enya from the start and had no idea where he was even going not to mention had no idea where Enya would go in the middle of the busy city. He walked around for what seemed like hours, his footsteps becoming heavy and taking a minute or two either mile to just scream at himself and bash his head against his wall in anguish.

_HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THIS?! This place is nothing like Republic City, the streets are like a maze, theres more people on most street than there are on Jet Street during rush hour…I've failed…failed…failed, failed, Zuko's gonna kill me, General Iroh….Oh shit, the Firelord's gonna burn me alive…_

"Come on Patso…you know this is good shit" he heard a familiar girls voice yelling

"I'm sorry Nix, you cleaned me out after the last load you brought" Said the deep yet soft man's voice

Mako stared ahead, it was Enya. She was brandishing a Fire palace plate at the man looking determined while the man moved boxes still softly refusing

"Enya…." Mako charged ahead "ENYA!"

"Oh Shit" Enya noticed him, throwing the plate back in the bag and running off as fast as possible

"ENYA! I need you to come back to the palace" Mako ran after her "If you don't, your family is probably gonna cook me alive"

"That's your problem you prick!" Enya kept running away "Now get the fuck lost!"

Enya swiftly moved her bags into one hand, from there she pulled two little black bombs from her pocket and lit them with firebending. In a swift motion she turned around and slammed them against the floor creating huge puffs of black smoke, Mako tripped into the cloud coughing vigorously having to stop not being able to see through. As the smoke cleared it was easy to tell Enya was nowhere within sight, Mako felt the anger boiling in his body and in a quick release picked up a fruit from the nearby stand and hurled against the wall.

"You gotta pay for that" Said the clerk.


	5. Chapter 4: The Phoenix

Chapter 4: The Phoenix

_Ugh, Goddammit! Why did I do that?! SO STUPID! She could be nearly anywhere in the city by now and I don't even know what street I'm on._

Mako wandered around again for another few hours, it was all he good do. The sun started to set over the sky and turned a burnt orange, and the further the sun set the further Mako's dread grew, he knew the longer they were gone the more the royal family was going to realise, and after night fell finding Enya would become almost impossible.

"Hey mister" Said a little girl in ragged pink dress that suddenly appeared before him, causing Mako to jump and break towering over her

"Hey…Little girl…" Mako awkwardly said frozen above her

"Ahmi" the girl corrected him

"Amy" Mako added

"AH-MI" she corrected him again

"Okay Ahmi, I'm Mako, is there something I can help you with?" Mako gently asked

"My friends saw you chasing the Feenix before" She told him wide eyed "Why would you chase the Feenix bad man? The Feenix is a nice lady"

"…The Phoenix?" Mako stood confused

"Yeah she's beautiful and kind and caring, she makes my friends happy" She said wide eyed as she did some innocent imitation of archery "And she shoots the bad guys whenever they show up"

An idea struck Mako like a bolt of Lightning,

Mako instantly crouched down "Little girl…I mean Ahmi. Do you know where the Phoenix is now?"

"She's probably with my friends now, at home" she told him honestly

"Ahmi, would you take me to her?" Mako looked rather eager

"I don't know mister, you chased her. I don't want to take the bad man to the Phoenix" she told him starting to move away

"I'm not a bad man, I'm the Phoenix's…Friend" Mako lied "I was just lost in the city…and I thought the Phoenix could help me home, she didn't recognise me and thought I was going to hurt her. I just need her to get me home"

The girl paused intently thinking for a moment "…Okay, I'll take you to her, but you'll have to hold my hand so you don't chase after her again…deal?"

"Deal" Mako smiled as they walked along and the small girl wrapped her small hand around his finger

The journey was slow, Mako could only follow as the little girl took a small wandering eye as they went through the twisting turns of the alleyways, even the little girl could navigate the streets without a problem, kind of made Mako embarrassed for getting lost. Half way through the journey the small girls wandering eye took her to a little stall of sewn plush toys, her gaze fixed lovingly on a tiny Bird-dragon with the button eyes. Mako owed the girl a little, he smiled softly as he took out the few spare Yuans in his pocket and gave them to the merchant, the girls face lit up as she grabbed the Bird-Dragon toy off the stand and squeezed it for dear life.

A few twists and turns later, the pair came out to a dock, the sun shining over the river as the path lead down to a bunch of warehouses. Slowly in the distance, Mako saw a band of people approaching a single warehouse, all burdened with multiple large sacks and laughing a lot.

"Enya…Enya is that you?!" Mako ran off unthinkingly towards the group

"Oh Shit not again" Came a voice from inside the group "Guys, protect me. He's a stalker"

Mako ran up to the group and was immediately stopped short by sharp metal plates and other pointed objects pointing directly at his head.

"Ay mate, you better move along now" said a short rough boy pointing a sharpened stick at his throat,

"Enya! Enya just talk to me!" Mako continued from arm's length "Your family's going to kill me if I don't bring you back, Izumi's known for setting people on fire"

"Enya? Izumi?" Another boy pointed out "What's this bloke talkin' about Nix?"

Enya pulled through the crowd pushing the others out the way, lowering hands to signal the group to drop their weapons. With an exasperated growl she gave Mako a hideous death stare, as she hooked her arm round his head and dragged him away from the group as he grunted in protest.

"You guys go in and set up, I'll take care of this creep" She yelled back as she threw him from her grasp, "Now you, just stop with that"

"What's going on around here? Who are those people?" Mako yelled looking exasperated "Why won't you come back to the palace Enya?"

"Look shut the fuck up for a second, and mind your own damn business" Enya ordered him, as she started to walk away "Just go back to the palace, I'll be home before midnight"

"No Enya" Mako grabbed her by the hand, and took a deep breath "Look. I don't care what you're doing here or when you come back. But I'll be fucking damned if I let you go around without anyone to watch your back"

Enya blushed, and let it go quickly before turning around "You don't seem so stiff once you let loose"

"So…will you let me stay?" Mako smiled softly at her

"Okay…as long as the kids don't mind" She actually smiled back "And don't call me that."

"Call you what?" Mako looked confused

"You know…my name" She awkwardly told him "I don't want anyone town knowing I'm…ya know, the Fire Princess. It protects the kids. I'm the Phoenix to everyone round town, most people just call me Nix"

"Okay Nix…" Mako tried to adjust as they began walking back to the warehouse "So what's with all the kids as you put it? Some of them looked old enough to be our age"

"I kinda run an orfmmmmf" she trailed off in a mumble

"Sorry, what was that?" Mako tried to discern

"I run an Orphanage okay! I run an Orphanage." She said matter of fact "I know it's stupid, tell me it's stupid, like all those prissy rich kids who said 'You can just set up funds, you don't have to get your hands dirty with all those poor people'"

Mako's heart swelled "I think…that's amazing"

"You…you do?" she stuttered this time

"One question though" Mako added "Some of them are our age, they could have their own places?"

"It's kind of a halfway house too" She lit up as she explained standing outside the doors "The older ones have to work though, but as long as they pay rent they're free to stay here too…we take all kinds"

"But why?" Mako was intently curious

"That's…a long story" She looked sombre as she sighed "I'll tell you at some…"

"Yo Nix! I'm sorry to brake the meeting with yo boyfriend up" Said a shady looking man with two worse looking bodyguards as the came up behind Mako "but I've had a little rethink on our payment for that cutlery, turns out we want a refund"

"Watch out En…I mean Nix" Mako turned around arms out in front of her

"Out of the way you idiot" she pushed in front of him "Get lost Pak! I've already spent your money so all of your shit is useless anyway!"

"Well that's too bad" The man grinned darkly "I wonder if those kids can work it off, I'm surely they can be nicely whipped into the best of thieves"

"You fucking cunt! You stay away from them!" Enya got right up in the mans face "You bought my shit fair and square, just leave now before you leave in ashes…just like I left the last New Ozai goon to tangle with us"

"I'm afraid, we're under new management now girly" The man smirked as he saw another goon sneak in the shadows "And new management wants you to pay up"

The man shot a blazing fireball from behind, but it was too late, Enya couldn't react fast enough feeling the encroaching heat as the fireball grew closer. Enya shut her eyes expecting the heat to take her, but all she felt was as the heat dissipated suddenly before her.

"I told you" Mako said having blocked the Fireball "You need someone to watch your back"

"I guess you're not as useless as I thought, fucking tourist" She smiled as they stood back to back "Jump"

Mako quickly pushed off the ground, Enya took a sweep kick that let out a circular blaze of blue fire, knocking back all four guys as Mako landed back down. Punch-Punch-Punch, Mako took off releasing Fireblasts with each punch in his usual Pro-bending style assaulting the man without giving him a chance. Enya jumped up herself, firing three blue fireballs to the ground trying to push the attackers back, but they took this chance sending another flurry of fireballs back at her trying to strike her in the air.

"Now you fuckers are gonna get it" She smirked as she swiftly landed on the ground "I learnt this from my Auntie Izzy"

Enya ran between two of them, dodging their attacks with acrobatic like grace, with swift movement she blasted one man with a blue fireblast from her foot and the other one with a blue fireblast from her hand. Mako suddenly soared over head moving over Enya to attack the missed guy with another onslaught of fire attacks.

That was enough, the three guys had been floored while Mako and Enya stood over them looking tough.

"Hey, where'd the other guy go?" Enya yelled at Mako

"He ran off, I had to cover your back" Mako told her seriously

Enya quickly turned around to sweep the area, she luckily saw the man Mako left still running off a fair distance away.

"We'll never catch him now" Mako sighed "Let him go, they're no problem now"

"Not good enough" Enya said seriously as she quickly took the bow off her back.

Enya quickly took the arrow from her quiver as loaded the bow, taking a few good minutes to trace the man as she saw him running down the dock. In a few swift seconds the Arrow launched from her bow and in that time the Arrow lit ablaze in blue fire rocketing down the alley. In a few seconds the fire cooled and the bow erupted like a travelling bird of fire down the alley, as it struck the cowering man setting him ablaze and screaming.

"That'll teach them, they shouldn't come around for a while again" She chuckled, and Mako stood there looking amazed "Now let's go eat"

She smiled as she took Mako by the hand, Mako still in shock as she pulled him into the warehouse.


End file.
